On Stimulus

Trump isn't shy about holding us hostage to get what he wants.

IMHO, the only thing the Republicans are worried about is that he's saying the quiet part out loud again. His big mouth threatens to blow the GOP's cover - that they're using this "stimulus / COVID relief" thing as cover for handing their pals more power and more of our money.

But there are some decent things in the bill that (eg) move us towards actually addressing Climate Change problems, as well as some money for Schools, Vaccine Distribution, SNAP benefits, etc.

Better'n nuthin' , I reckon

WaPo: (pay wall)

Fresh signs emerged Wednesday of a stalling economic recovery, raising the stakes of President Trump’s surprise refusal to sign the $900 billion stimulus package unless changes are made.

The Labor Department reported that jobless claims remained high last week, with 803,000 people seeking new benefits. And the Commerce Department said U.S. household spending slipped in November for the first time in seven months. People’s incomes also fell 1.1 percent last month.

After months of stop-and-start negotiations, the relief package was supposed to spray a new round of stimulus into the economy to help households and businesses fighting to make it through the winter. The 5,593-page measure passed the House and Senate Monday night, and the President’s aides had signaled Trump supported it — before he announced he did not.

- snip -

Congress passed the $2.2 trillion Cares Act in March to rescue the economy as the pandemic began its first sustained wave. That law sent $1,200 stimulus checks to millions of Americans, provided new unemployment benefits, and directed billions of dollars to airlines and small businesses. The $900 billion agreement reached just days ago was supposed to renew some of those programs.

“What we did with Cares Act was we built a firewall around the covid-impacted parts of the economy,” said Constance Hunter, chief economist at KPMG. “We did a very good job of building the firewall, and what we saw in today’s data is that firewall is eroding."

So what's up with this thing anyway?

WaPo:

• Stimulus checks
• Jobless benefits
• Relief for businesses
• Emergency rental assistance and eviction moratoriums
• Money for vaccine distribution
• School funding
• Transportation

Out: Aid for state and local governments; corporate liability protections

The negotiations shit-canned the GOP's attempt to further fuck us out of our 1st amendment right to petition the government for redress, and it seems the cost of maintaining that right is that we'll see more erosion of the ability of state governments to carry the load of shit coming down from Washington.